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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25842040">Constellatory: the chains that bind us</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeehawYeet/pseuds/YeehawYeet'>YeehawYeet</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeehawYeet/pseuds/yeethaw'>yeethaw (YeehawYeet)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Arcana (Visual Novel)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:41:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,153</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25842040</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeehawYeet/pseuds/YeehawYeet, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YeehawYeet/pseuds/yeethaw</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A Drabble-esque series involving my fan Apprentice: Callista and her misadventure in this particular rendition of her romance</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Apprentice/Asra (The Arcana), Apprentice/Asra/Muriel (The Arcana), Apprentice/Muriel (The Arcana), Asra/Muriel (The Arcana)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Constellatory: The Chains That Bind Us</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">An Introduction to The Celestial Maiden, the Constellatory Lady, Callista:</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Callista Kosmonova, An immigrant to Vesuvia from Hjalle; she moved to Vesuvia to assist her aunt with the shop, leaving behind her father, mother, two brothers and uncle. Her father was lost to the plague when she was in Vesuvia though she cannot remember him or her family anymore, having had her memories claimed in exchange for her new body and power. Callista is the middle child and the only female member of her entire family beyond her mother and deceased aunt.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her physical appearance varies, however, her base body traits consist of honey-brown skin, deep purple eyes with light pupils, and deep blue hair, all of which she inherited from her mother’s family who are natives of Hjalle. She has many tattoos: one for each and every constellation, which serves as a contract with those minor celestial deities; and several others which serve as religious and aesthetic adornment, such as various magic circles to represent her family members, and later, the members of the arcana. She is about 5’9 or so, and as an after-effect of her magic, she has a halo of stars around her head. They change with the seasons and reflect the night sky and it’s rotations. For example, the Scorpio constellation, her birth constellation, shines the brightest on her birthday and will sit perfectly before her third eye. She is especially powerful during Scorpio season. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As for her personality, Callista is a relatively patient and easygoing individual. She is a ‘think twice, act once’ type of person and rarely loses her temper. Her vengeance for a given slight is returned tenfold and she is especially vindictive when protecting those she loves. She is generally quiet and observant, and is quite amorous and physical with her loved ones. She is also bisexual. Her favorite past times are dancing, stargazing and — no one can ever know — cuddling. She is also secretive and her gambits for vengeance or retribution can easily become self-destructive. ‘A silent Callista is a scary Callista’, as shes likely plotting someone’s demise. She’s cunning, sly and very clever. She doesn’t prefer fighting, but she places a heavy emphasis on respect and is always ready for violence nonetheless. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Callista’s magic is a mystery, even to her. She has no memories of the events that led to the constellation tattoos appearing on her skin, nor the power that accompanied them, but she wields it well. Callista’s abilities are highly dependent upon the astral plane and the celestial bodies. She can absorb stardust from space and keep it in her body, turning herself incorporeal, creating masterful illusions, teleporting and converting other things into stardust as well. Callista can also speak to the stars’ collective consciousness and sometimes speak to specific deities which rule the constellations. When this happens, she goes into a trance and begins to float, strange whispers leave her mouth and her body leaks stardust; it is unsettling to watch for those confined to the earthly realm. The effects of her magic is her eyes and hair become filled with stardust, which causes her hair to grow —to sometimes unmanageable lengths —if she takes too much. Callista’s body is still mortal, however, and having too much stardust on her can make her ill and she has to purge it from her vessel in a painful process. This restores her body to its base form (mentioned above) and she cannot use any celestial magic until she gets more stardust. Landwalkers are not harmed by stardust unless Callista manages to either dissolve them, or </span>
  <span class="s2">force</span>
  <span class="s1"> them to ingest it somehow.</span>
</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">Callista changes based upon her relationship l, however her character is generally consistent with these parameters. From most to least problematic Callistas I’d say she’s about the following:</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
<p class="p1">- Lucio Route Callista</p>
<p class="p1">- Julian Route Callista</p>
<p class="p1">- Nadia &amp; Portia Route Callista</p>
<p class="p1">- Asra Callista</p>
<p class="p1">- Asra/Muriel Callista </p>
<p class="p1">- Muriel Callista</p>
<p class="p1"> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. First Link</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A small interaction between Muriel and Callista in the astral realm, set after the prologue of the game.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>In this chapter, Callista visits Muriel in the forest, and has only met Asra, Nadia, and Muriel, himself, she cannot remember anything and what she does know, she found out from the stars.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The sooner you leave, the better.” <br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The woman was in his dreams lately, Asra’s apprentice, and after three sleepless nights but waking refreshed nonetheless, he knew she was ambling into his dream space. For what purpose, he didn’t know, but he felt thoroughly unnerved at her appearance. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was far too beautiful for Muriel to comprehend. Thestars that encircled her were bright and her form seemed to be sculpted to perfection. Long robes — which  seemed to melt into the swirling nova of colors within the deepest blackness that encircled them— were haphazardly draped across her figure concealing nothing yet revealing all. Muriel was ashamed to say he’d liked what he saw. Especially since she often conjured images of Asra to entertain him when he chose to ignore her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was divine, a goddess in her own right. Someone like her was not meant to be with someone like him, a killer, too strong for his own good. She and Asra deserved one another and it was because of this that his heart clenched and his eyes grew tight around the edges.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>He wanted to be alone. He told her as much, peeking over his broad shoulder to hesitantly mutter out his demand in that low, rich baritone of his which made Callista shiver in the private confines of her mind, the stars tittering around them. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Callista smiled gently and nodded, gently sliding a finger across the air, a small line appearing with every movement, until a hazy figure drawn into the space between them began to spill smoke across the...room? <br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If that is what you wish.” And with a smile, she left. Just like that, her presence was gone and the world grew dark once more, leaving him in the deafening silence and isolation he’d grown to know intimately.<br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Muriel sighed despite himself and regarded this stray though for a moment before letting go of his hesitance, supposing if she were no longer here she could not stare into his soul with those sharp lavender pupils and gaze into the very depths of his being. Soon his mind became adrift with thoughts of blue hair and deep purple eyes.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Waking, Walking World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Morning came and Muriel rose reluctantly, losing the tides of lethargy and the ebbing vision of azure to the scent of myrrh and a wet nose prodding his ribs. He rose to see citrine eyes peering at him, Inanna sitting faithfully at his bedside, her furs long forgotten and her snout consistently prodding at his sides.</p><p>Fully lucid, Muriel slowly stood, huffing when his joints gave cracks reminiscent of the masquerade’s fireworks show and protested his movements with clamoring aches. The large man ignored them, lumbering to the fireplace and feeding the dying flames, tossing some myrrh in as well, the thick scent clinging to his hands as he rubbed at his face, shoving his fringe away from his eyes. He ambled outside to check on the chickens, counting them and inspecting each and every hen with a gentle touch. Satisfied, he knelt down and gazed out into the dense corpse of towering trees and dense foliage surrounding his home. </p><p>The first morning rays had barely begun to peek out over the horizon, still in night’s grip. The beams of light that managed to escape slithered between the roots of mighty firs and hid beneath the oak leaves, turning them from emerald to a light viridian color. While he admired the sun’s quiet beauty in the still dawn, a lick of wind rushed past him, chilling every bare bit of skin. A frigid winter approached, drawing closer every day until the sky began to leach of color. Even now, though it was majestic, the sky was a muted periwinkle, the vibrant cornflower shade being stolen away by the cold.</p><p>But waxing poetic was not going to turn back time, and time was not a commodity he could afford to waste. Preparations needed to be made, and staring at the sky did not make one prepared. Muriel got to his knees, patting a few nearby chickens one last time, and rose completely. Inanna fell into step beside him, her tail occasionally brushing his calves with its fervent wagging as they set off into the forest. <em>‘Herbs, roots, firewood.’</em> He reminded himself, carefully collecting the delicate springs left behind by spring and taking as much as he’d need, and no more. Nature was to be respected and preserved, and truthfully he did not need very much of these. Admittedly, were he in dire need, Muriel was certain Asra had herbs to spare. Though, he’d prefer not to bother his magician friend with trifles. <br/><br/></p><p>Muriel finished his first task with relative speed and ease, the second proving a bit more laborious. Inanna helped him dig, sniffing out what he needed. He rewarded her with careful pats, making certain he did not dirty her pristine coat with the dew-damp earth that stained his fingers. He and Inanna finished quickly and returned to the hut, the wolf relaxing by the fire while he hung the herbs to dry above the fireplace mantle. The roots were sorted and laid carefully into a water bucket, gentle strokes removing dirt from both his hands and the plant matter. Muriel felt a small sense of quiet accomplishment as he stored away the cleaned roots and tubers in the small baskets he kept in the corner of his hut, rising to check on the slow-going stew he’d began when they returned. It had time, yet. <br/><br/></p><p><em>His wards had been <strong>breached!</strong></em>—<br/><br/></p><p>Muriel felt weariness overpower his initial panic as he became aware of just who had entered the forest, more wards informing him she was, in fact, heading directly to his location. She was absolutely certain of her direction, arriving immediately at his residence without any hesitation and standing an acceptable distance away.</p><p>She knocked, if a caress of her tattooed knuckles against the creaking aged wood could be called that, and called out gently from beyond the confines of his home.</p><p>“Muriel.”</p><p>Why did she always sound like she was singing a lullaby? The wood protected him from her eyes, but it could not save him the cadence of her voice, melodic and enchanting as the woman herself. And the company she kept, he considered, noting she and Asra both spoke in lilting, magical and hypnotic tones that teased at the senses.</p><p>He reluctantly opened the door, finding Callista in all her elegance on the other side, standing about two feet away and looking up at him expectantly, awaiting his permission to approach. Why bother with the two feet? The wards should have been indication enough? The scent of myrrh wafted off of her, this particular blend less smoky than the variety he kept, and he wondered is myrrh could really smell so particularly different or if he was once again deluding himself when it came to her. </p><p>A wicker basket rested in her hand, the crinkling of the woven strands bringing him out of his reverie. He allowed her to approach, opening the door so he could step out completely. She didn’t <em>frown</em> at this, but...pouted, almost, seeming put out in some way. She quickly wiped the expression off of her face in favor of that particular smile she saved for him...and Asra, sometimes. Callista held up the basket, trying to allow him better visibility, as when it was in her hands, it hung to about his knees. </p><p><br/>“Muriel, darling. I’ve brought you something.”</p><p>She was excited, as it was no easy feat to condense her stardust down like this: Alchemy couldn’t help her and no magician could offer her any advice. Master Asra, also, was at a loss. But she’d done it, and she could assuage both Muriel and Asra’s fears with a few little bottles! The glass clinked together with her hands trembling from excitement, her tattooed fingers curling around the wicker handle. They were awfully close to his lips, he noted, and he reeled back a bit under the guise of getting a better look. “What is it?”  Muriel seemed suspicious, gazing at the little granules trapped within the glass with rapt attention. They seemed familiar somehow... The neck of the bottles had forget-me-nots woven into wreaths around them, leaving him to wonder how she knew.</p><p>Nonetheless, she was not answering him, just smiling in that sly demeanor of hers; Muriel did not want just any gift, regardless of whether Callista had been the one to bring it. “My Stardust. I heard from a little birdie that you might need some winter supplies and Master has business in Nopal soon, so I supposed I could lend you some stardust.” Muriel watched her shrug, as if it had been no trouble at all, but her eyes spoke of excitement, practically shining with it. “Star...dust?” Callista waved her hand, dismissively. “Never mind that, darling. If you allow me inside, I can show you.” <br/><br/></p><p>Inanna chose that moment to nudge the door open and nip the end of Callista’s robes, dragging her towards the door. Callista chuckled but did not move from where she stood, awaiting outright permission. Muriel turned and walked inside, the woman following him in and closing the door before he could ask. She waved a hand over the basket she’d brought, blowing a wisp of oddly colored smoke over the bottles and smiling as a symbol appeared atop the corks, the forget-me-nots glowing around the necks.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Cloudy Constellation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Callista educates Muriel in the art of the astral plane.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Muriel felt greatly apprehensive, to say the least. With Asra, glowing magical material usually meant an explosion, however, Callista seemed nothing short of delighted. “Alright, darling, would you please be a dear and touch these for me?” At his probably bewildered expression, Callista chuckled and waved her hands placatingly. “It is perfectly safe. Once you touch these, only you can open them. This is a very precious resource and I don’t want you hurt because of it.” Her voice turned soft and gentle towards the end, her eyes pleading. “I swear, I would <em>never</em> bring harm to you.” <br/><br/></p><p>He trusted her. Gods damn it, he trusted her. <br/><br/></p><p>Muriel sighed and touched the bottles, the light dying as each cork was given a careful tap. When he was done, Callista selected a bottle and pulled liberally on the top, the cork refusing to release. “Now, try it.” He stifled a gasp as his fingers touched her own, easily accepting the bottle and popping off the cork with ease. “Perfect. Now, how do you prefer to divine?” Callista pulled a stone bowl, a linen mat and a set of quartz dunes and setting them on the table. Muriel silently selected the tunes and the celestial magician nodded. “I think Asra mentioned something about that...” she muttered beneath her breath, arranging the 25 runes in a specific pattern upon the linen cloth, aligning them with the crystal grid inscribed into the cloth. <br/><br/></p><p>“There we are, now, darling, pour some of that inside the runes and ask for Callista.” The woman in question ducked out of the door. Muriel curiously did as he was bid, the large man stumbling back as it lit up and began to swirl, aligning itself with the crystal grid and becoming a clear pool of pink-orange-blue-purple, an amalgam of color which rippled, as if waiting. “Callista?” He called out uncertainly, looking to the door where she’d left from. The stardust made a splashing sound and caught his attention, and in it Callista’s beautiful form was reflected. “Hello! It’s lovely to see you, darling.” Muriel quickly understood what this was. “This is for communication?” Callista smiled impishly. “Of sorts. Do you like lemons?” He did not say anything, but he did turn away, which Callista took to mean yes. <br/><br/></p><p>“Very well, On the off chance that you do, put out your hand.” As though she’d trained him, he obediently put his hand out, startling when her hand reached through the reflection and placed his favorite fruit in his outstretched palm. Callista chuckled at his expression and held her hand out as well. “Could you pass me a bottle of stardust, Muriel darling?” He seemed intrigued, passing a bottle of stardust and ogling at the incredibly foreign sensation of putting his hand in the substance. Then, he felt the cold breeze of outside, his hand covering hers for a moment as he passed the bottle over. Her fingers were <em>freezing</em>. <br/><br/></p><p>Impulsively, he reached his palm out and touched her rosy cheek, realizing just how cold she probably was. She trembled in the wind, shaking like the willowy limbs of the trees behind her. She leaned into his touch, trusting despite the fact that his hand was nearly as big as her head and has held lives, had snuffed them out with those same calluse palms. “I suppose I’m a bit cold.” She remarked with that gentle, warm smile. His heart quite possibly skipped a beat, and he nearly flinched away. She noticed his hesitance and pulled away in his stead, that smile becoming sadder, somehow, but nothing changed on her face. Callista passed a bag into his hand and gently pushed his hands back through the portal, turning away and closing the portal from her end. <br/><br/></p><p>Muriel was left staring into the swirling pool of stardust, his hand still outstretched and palm tingling from the chill of her cheek. She’d stood outside until she was shivering, for him, and all he’d done for her is flinch away from her attention. The guilt crept in, intrusive thoughts following it as he mindlessly stared into the liquid night sky, which began to dissipate into billowy, cloudy gas that slipped beneath his doorway and parted on a single word.</p><p>“<em>Tonight</em>.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Starscape Discovery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Muriel has a much needed conversation with Asra in the astral realm.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She always kept her promises, it seemed. Just, never in the way he expected. It was not long after drifting off that he slowly opened his eyes to see the strange star-scape that Callista brought him to in his dreams. However, it was not Callista that awaited him there, but a floating Asra. <br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He greeted his friend with no small amount of confusion, noting that his white hair contrasted with the star-speckled sky wonderfully, standing out especially when the random clouds of stardust rolled by and passed them. Asra greeted him warmly, floating over and tugging on his hand. In some odd magic, he was flying, and it was the most freeing and yet unsettling experience he’d had in this realm to date. <br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I understand you were expecting Callista, yes?” Muriel did not answer him. But he did look away with blooming cheeks. The magician smiled knowingly but said nothing more on that particular subject. “She arranged for us to join in her realm tonight. Though she is not visible to us, I’d say she is here...somewhere. So, Muriel, I take it Callista provided you with the means for teleportation?” He nodded once, curt but not unfriendly. A fond smile and a gentle rub against his bicep informes Muriel that he’d amused the magician, as did the chuckle that vibrated from his tan skin and rumbled against Muriel’s forearm. He blushed, deeply, and averted his gaze from the bare skin that shone in the starlight. He and his apprentice were so similar it was unsettling. <br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">”Don’t worry, you’ll be in good hands with Callista. She’s a bit soft on you, and that means she’ll spoil you as much as you like.” Muriel pondered on what this meant as Asra waved his hand through the air, causing a ripple effect. Above them, long blue hair tinged with the amalgam of their surrounding cascaded down to tickle his forehead. Muriel looked up to see the apprentice laid out before them, her sleeping figure suspended on what seemed to be a particularly soft and fluffy cloud, not unlike those which began to swirl around them. “Callista, I know you’re watching.” <br/><br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes opened, but it was not tyrian eyes that greeted them. Instead, swirling stardust and bending constellations gazed out into the distance, Callista’s lips moving under whispers and chants beneath her breath that just escaped their hearing. Asra looked unsettled, causing Muriel to subtly position himself protectively before his oldest friend. Callista’s form rose from the cloud to arrange itself into a lotus pose, her neck tilting back and spewing stardust out of her mouth. Her face was hidden, but the faster her lips moved the louder the whispers grew, so numerous it was as though an entire universe of people murmured around them. <br/><br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Asra neared her as the voices around them began to shout, scream and wail so raucously it had him wincing and tearing up. Muriel covered his own ears, unable to sink to his knees from where he floated a few feet away. Asra managed to touch Callista and she jolted, the stardust craving to spill from her lips and her eyes clearing of the universes, as though they had never invaded her gaze to begin with. Callista looked down at them with a sheepish expression, not registering their horrified looks. “Ah, I guess you found me Master— What is the matter?” She felt hands clasp her cheeks, Asra pulling her down to press his forehead to hers with a wince. “What in the world was <em>that?”</em> He demanded, eyes teary and tinged pink at the edges. Callista looked bemused.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">”What are you talking about, Asra?” He sighed in relief as she said his name, relishing in the familiar address. Muriel recognized it as well, and heaved a silent sigh of his own. She was so very <em>troublesome</em>. Callista glanced at him, as if asking him to elaborate. He stepped....glided? forth and placed a careful hand on Asra’s shoulder. “You were acting strangely...and there were these voices...” The astral maiden covered her mouth to smother a gasp, looking utterly horrified. “Truly? You heard them?” Asra looked beyond confused. “You knew about this, Callista?” She shook her head once and gently pushed him back into Muriel’s arms, making an odd symbol with her hands. “You cannot return here. Ever. Say what you must and go.” <br/><br/></p><p class="p1">She disappeared with a flash and he jolted awake, Asra doing the same within the shop. He frantically searched it up and down for his wayward woman, finding nothing but her discarded robes and necklace. </p><p class="p1"> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Preparations due to Conversations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Callista acquires some critical information from the stars and the oddest places.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Callista remained in her realm, among the starry skies of the astral plane where a thousand suns twinkled in the vast reaches of space. “If they have heard the voices, it cannot be long, can it?” A million, trillion variations of <em>‘No!’ ‘Not Long’ </em>and<em> ‘Soon’ </em>met her ears, the stars telling her all she needed to know. “If the realms are falling out of balance once more, that implies the Devil has begun to sap the others’ powers. This is much sooner than we anticipated.” The stars agreed, an amalgam of  ‘<em>early!’</em> filling the silence. <br/><br/></p><p>“Then I must know more. Can you show me?” <br/><br/></p><p>
  <em>‘Hurts’ ‘Suffer’ ‘Knowledge priced’ ‘Priceless to know’ </em>
</p><p>“If that is all, then let us begin. Knowledge is priceless, yes, however, knowledge is power and<em> that </em>is something very few possess at the moment. The priceless tithe means nothing to me.” Callista’s words were followed by immediate pain as images, fleeting yet eternal, passed before her eyes, seeing all and nothing at all for blindness made her see and sight made her know all untruths. There was much to uncover. The stars ran clipped commentary over the events, contextualizing them in the briefest and most succinct of terms. The one word that reccured and sang across the abyss of mortality was its most damning. <br/><br/></p><p>
  <em>
    <b>‘Deal’</b>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Callista gasped as she broke the surface of the skies, coughing up stardust and choking on the very essence of her being. “I...<em>died</em>.” She sobbed at the thought, curling in on herself. “So many died...and for nothing! For greed! And these deals, it is beyond damnation and these deeds cannot be undone. Asra, you absolute <em>fool</em>.” She shuddered at the thought of those chains...sucking out the lives of all they touched. It was beyond evil. <br/><br/></p><p>“I know what I must do. I will feed them their sins and watch their eyes burn <em><b>red</b></em>.” <br/><br/></p><p>Callista did not shy away from her violent, horrendous plans for vengeance. No. <em>Retribution</em>. “They will pay for the offenses committed against those I love. That <em>goat</em> especially. Oh yes, he will pay as well. My darlings’ happiness depends upon it.” <br/><br/></p><p>The celestial magician grinned at the thought of her future with her boys, scowling when she similarly pondered all of the obstacles. “The root of this will be difficult to access. He can be neither killed nor destroyed. Merely...defeated. And from whence does this power come, I wonder. That Valerius has indeed become quite monstrous, the others adorned in glamours. Perhaps that is where I must begin with that removing of rotten roots. However, where must I begin digging...the goat it is.” Callista began plotting, absorbing as much stardust as possible before descending from the astral realm and joining the landwalkers once more.</p>
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